News Gathering

Denton school board members plan to consider the administration's recommendation to drop drivers education from its course offerings.
That meeting is tonight, and will probably generate some interest.
Britney Tabor reported today that costs are about to go up because of new requirements for more driving time.
Our online comments have already weighed in on both sides of the issue.
One side argues that parents should take on the driving responsibility, so the school can focus on the basics.
The other side argues that parents are motivated to lie about how much driving practice their teens have had, just to be done with the course. That enables teens to drive with even less experience than they are supposed to have.
It should be an interesting discussion tonight at 6 p.m. at the Denton ISD Central Services Building, 1307 N. Locust St.

Three young children and two adults were injured and taken to area hospitals Saturday at 10:37 p.m. after the van they were riding in fell off the shoulder of a county road in the 5400 block of Mills Road and later wrecked, said Trooper Lonny Haschel, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The driver of the van, which was traveling eastbound on Mills Road, overcorrected, ran through two fences and rolled once before coming to a stop, Haschel said.
Zachary Ryan Holman, the driver of the vehicle and father to the children, was charged with reckless driving after he attempted to pass his wife's car and dropped off the small, two-lane road, Haschel said.
Holman, 30, was not injured in the accident and was taken to the Denton County jail Sunday morning, according to jail logs.
After several hours, Holman was released $2,372 bond, which included previous outstanding charges including public intoxication and open container, the jail logs state.
The three children were wearing their seatbelts during the accident and taken by helicopter ambulance to Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth for head injuries, Haschel said.
A 23-year-old woman, who was riding in the front passenger seat, was taken by helicopter ambulance to Parkland Hospital in Dallas for a broken leg, hip and chest injuries, he said.
Firefighters had to pry a 31-year-old man from the wreckage and he was later taken to Denton Regional Medical Center by ground ambulance for treatment, Haschel said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating the accident to determine if speed was a factor, he said, there were no signs of intoxication.
Investigators are unsure why Holman was trying to pass his wife's vehicle, Haschel said.
"There was no reason to be passing on that small country road," he said. "Due to the road conditions, the time of night and the three children in the car...he was charged with reckless driving."

Lynn and Joni Chatwin, co-owners of Alphagraphics, were announced on Friday as the recipients of the Denton Chamber of Commerce's annual Small Business of the Year award for 2009.

The company began eight years ago when its owners opted out of the corporate world and sought to operate a business based on principles of honesty, integrity and treating customers with respect and fairness, according to comments during the chamber's quarterly luncheon at the University of North Texas Gateway Center.

As the recession affected businesses across the region, Alphagraphics and its employees looked inside their organization to find ways to decrease spending while maintaining quality customer service. Employees decreased hours, more efficient equipment was purchased and innovative solutions in print and marketing combined to help the company during the period.

Last year's recipient were the owners of Little Guys Movers, including Chris Hawley, who announced this year's recipient.

I drove to Fort Worth to attend the second meeting of the North Central Texas Communities Alliance, a new group trying to addresses emerging concerns for human health and the environment in the Barnett Shale play.

I, like others in the crowd of about 150, were there to hear Al Armendariz, the Environmental Protection Agency's choice for regional director for our area.

Several attendees were so anxious to hear from him that they interrupted organizer Esther McElfish's rather long ramp-up in introducing him.

There were other prominent people introduced, including Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, but the only one to receive a standing ovation was Dish Mayor Calvin Tillman.

Denton Mayor Mark Burroughs said Thursday he will seek a second term this spring.

"I have just started a number of things that I would like to make sure move forward," Burroughs said in an interview.

Candidates can start filing Monday for the May 8 city and school elections. In Denton, the mayor, two at-large City Council seats and three school board seats will be on the ballot.

No one has publicly announced a challenge to Burroughs, but the mayor said he wouldn't be surprised to face opposition. "That is always a possibility for the mayor's position," he said.

Burroughs, a lawyer, said he wants more time to accomplish goals he came to office with in 2008, including a new city subdepartment focusing on small infill and redevelopment projects. The global recession and slumping tax revenues have forced city leaders to scale back plans that require new spending or personnel, he said.

Due to an unanticipated inspection at its facility, Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls has had to cancel its scheduled three-day blood drive for the Red Cross set for this week (Feb 1-3).

According to the American Red Cross, this cancellation will negatively impact various aspects of the Dallas Blood Services operations next week including the loss of an anticipated 750 - 1000 units of blood.

American Red Cross Blood Services needs urgent help in attempting to recover these lost blood units, said Missy Bueltel, Emergency Services Specialist for the American Red Cross, Denton Branch in a news announcement.

The Blood Drive, sponsored by the American Red Cross Denton will take place tomorrow Wednesday, Feb. 3 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. inside the conference room of the Quality Inn & Suites located at 1500 Dallas Dr.

Call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE for appointment. Reference Red Cross Denton Drive.

Due to inclement weather, a number of athletic events across Denton County were either canceled or rescheduled Friday.

The following are a list of rescheduled and canceled events:

Denton High School Girls Basketball rescheduled for
Sat. 1pm @ Wichita Falls Rider

DHS Boys Basketball rescheduled for
Sat. 3pm @ Wichita Falls Rider

DHS Girls Soccer 1 game Varsity @ 6pm
on DHS practice field

DHS Boys Soccer JV @ 5pm & Varsity @ 6:15pm
on DHS Main Field

DHS Boys Soccer going to Abilene Wylie has been canceled
and not rescheduled

Ryan High School Girls Soccer @ CH Collins is canceled and will not be rescheduled

RHS Boys Soccer @ Ryan is canceled and will not be rescheduled

Guyer High School Girls Soccer @ Red Oak has been canceled and will not be rescheduled

Ponder High School JV basketball games are canceled.

PHS Varsity girls and boys games have been moved to 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Parent night in Ponder is rescheduled for a later date.

Pilot Point High School freshmen and JV boys' and girls' basketball games at S&S are canceled.

PHS Varsity girls will play at 4:30 p.m. and the varsity boys will follow at approximately 5:45 p.m.

Argye High School freshman boys and girls basketball games have been cancelled.

At 4:30 p.m., the AHS varsity girls basketball team will play in the high school gym. The JV boys team will play at Argyle Middle School.

Basketball matches for AHS varsity boys, playing in the high school gym, and the JV girls, playing at the middle school, will follow at approximately 6 p.m.

The AHS boys soccer game against Fort Worth Diamond Hills rescheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. at AHS.

After residents heard presentations from the Texas Railroad Commission, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Texas Department of State Health Services, questions continued until 11:30 p.m. In the final half hour, some residents asked which state officials had rule-making authority over the proposed wastewater pipelines. Williams has told local public officials that they plan to collect wastewater at centralized facilities and then pump it to the injection site. State officials said no one had rule-making authority over those pipelines. No one from the railroad commission's pipeline safety division would inspect the wastewater lines, but the commission's oil and gas division would come out if the line failed and a clean-up was required.

Greg Hawk, an environmental engineer living in Corinth, has been following the developing story on toxic substances found near natural gas facilities.

The use of infrared cameras has already showed political leaders and the general public that many of the emissions around tank batteries, wellheads, pipelines, compressors and disposal facilities cannot be seen with the naked eye. Hawk had this to say about relying on people's sense of smell to determine whether an inspection or investigation is needed.

"The odor threshold for benzene is about 8 ppm, which is higher than the OSHA 15-minute short term exposure limit of 5.0 ppm. Therefore, residents' health is left up to gas well inspectors to identify these problems and get them repaired in a timely manner. Not a very comforting thought."

State Department of Health Services spokeswoman Allison Lowery confirmed for me today that they are investigating a possible childhood leukemia cluster in the 75022 zip code. Parents from Flower Mound called the agency with their concerns in December.

Cancer clusters investigations are complicated, and state health officials have to work with statewide, finalized data from the cancer registry. That means the latest information available is going to be from people diagnosed in 2007 or earlier, but researchers will be looking for statistically significant occurrences back to 1998.

Three recent, previous investigations into possible cancer clusters in Denton County, including one in the 75022 zip, did not find statistically significant cancer rates. The agency was looking at thyroid rates in 75022, and brain tumor rates in two zips in Carrollton.

It will be several months before we know more in this case.

Church administrator Sara Carey said the church will open the sanctuary at 10 p.m. and remain open until 10 a.m. for people who need shelter from the cold.

The hours were arranged around a funeral Mass to be held tonight.

The church will re-open its sanctuary 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, for shelter. Immaculate Conception is located at 2255 Bonnie Brae, near North Lakes Park.

The judge in the Rayzor Ranch gas well case has issued a written opinion that sheds more light on his ruling last month supporting the drilling company in its contract dispute with the Rayzor developer. (Read the initial story here.)

But attorneys for Allegiance Hillview LP, the group behind Rayzor Ranch, still haven't decided whether to appeal. They have filed a request asking Denton County state district Judge L. Dee Shipman to speak to several issues not addressed in the opinion.

The judge's opinions--officially called "findings of fact and conclusions of law"--would form the basis of an appeal.

Allegiance attorneys had argued that Range Production Co. lost its right to use the west Denton property when it missed a July 11 deadline to start drilling. Range officials said they missed the deadline for reasons beyond their control, including a city review process that took longer than expected.

In his opinion, signed Dec. 9, Shipman agreed that Range did its best to start drilling by the summer deadline, which entitled the company to an extension.

"Lack of cooperation by third parties, mistakes made by the city, and acts or omissions by the city ... and the necessity of litigating the issues in this cause were all events beyond plaintiffs' [Range's] reasonable control, or were caused by events beyond plaintiffs' reasonable control," the judge said in the opinion.

Read the judge's opinion here: Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law (signed by judge and filed).pdf
Read the Allegiance response here: Def_s Request for Additional FOF and COL.pdf

A Denton landscape architect has left her job with the city to become the parks and recreation director of the town she grew up in.

Cynthia Mayo Deckard was recently hired by the city of Moore, Okla., after rising to the top of a pool of 50 applicants, The Oklahoman reported online Dec. 17. When she starts her new job Jan. 4, she will oversee a system of a dozen parks and help create a parks master plan for the city, according to the newspaper.

During Dish's meeting last Monday with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, one resident spoke up, questioning whether the problems fit within the legal theory of a state-created danger.

No one really had an answer for the man's question. The last time I'd read about that doctrine was in the A&M bonfire case. Families of the victims killed in the 1999 collapse advanced their case on theory, since university officials were actively involved and sponsored the bonfire each year.

The university paid $2.1 million to the families in 2008 and agreed, as part of the settlement, that if the bonfire ever returned to campus, its construction would be overseen by a professional engineer.

American courts have been skeptical of the doctrine of state-created danger, University of Houston law professor Laura Oren told me in a brief conversation this morning. She is an expert on the matter. For a case to even fit the mold of state-created danger, it takes much more than a sin of omission or improper rulemaking, Oren said.

Like the A&M case, there must be sponsorship or other active involvement.

At Shady Shores Christmas celebration, adults were working on a 20-question trivia quiz about the history of Shady Shores. The town will draw from those with the most correct answers in January, and give away a gift certificate for dinner for four at Genti's Pizza and Pasta. 3219_001.pdf

Denton post offices were swamped Saturday by long lines of customers looking to ship last minute gifts and send holiday cards.
It was difficult for postal customers to find parking spaces at the location at 101 E. McKinney Street and signs directed customers to alternate postal locations, including the new location in Sack n' Save off Interstate 35.
The U.S. Post Office closes at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Other shipping locations - like UPS - close at 5 p.m.
The next available shipping day in Monday, or about three shipping days until the Christmas holiday.

On Monday night, Dish passed a resolution in support of a new working document put together by area cities and the industry designed to secure "best practices" in the construction and management of gathering pipelines in the Barnett Shale.

Copper Canyon's Mayor, Sue Temjl, wrote about it in her mayor's column and Dish Mayor Calvin Tillman said the experience was a pleasant one.

We'll be writing about this more next week.

There will be a free Christmas Barrel Racing Workshop on Saturday, Dec. 19 at the Diamond T Ranch and Arena located at 6900 East Sherman Drive near Highway 428 in Denton. The workshop will be provided by Kendra Dickson and Team Gold Buckle.

This is a free one-day workshop designed to help you problem solve with your horse, develop a personalized game plan and step up your skills in time for the new season. Trainers include Jeremy Henthorn, Ryan Lovendahl, KC Groves, Chrystal Hall, Misti Ray and Ashley Taylor.

Stalls are $20/night. Please call Kathy at 940/484-6101 or e-mail kathy@diamondtranchandarena.com for more information. Spectators are welcome.

Visit the Web site: www.diamondtranchandarena.com to learn more about the facility.

A Denton city attorney raised eyebrows among some residents at a city meeting Monday night when he compared their opposition to a proposed duplex development to the testimony of a rape victim.

Assistant City Attorney Jerry Drake offered an apology in an interview after the meeting, saying he didn't mean to offend anyone.

Drake made the comment in response to a question from a member of the city's Historic Landmark Commission, which was considering a permit for the controversial Lux at Bell Avenue development (see related story here). The commissioner, David Wright, asked how the panel should weigh public opposition to the project in making its decision.

Drake said commissioners should only consider public comments that relate to the issues over which they have authority. Many complaints about the project relate to its zoning, which the commission doesn't control.

"I used to prosecute for a living, and when you have a rape victim that comes in and describes the offense that happened to her, she will talk about a number of things that aren't in the penal code," Drake said. "You listen and you're supportive of those issues and you understand, you're compassionate about it, what have you. But as you're evaluating the case and how it will stand to a judge and a jury and whether it will stand up on appeal, you have to confine your analysis to those specific legal concerns."

Several residents who had come to oppose the duplex project were visibly shocked by the comparison. Asked to comment after the meeting, Drake said it was probably a poor analogy and apologized to anyone who was offended.

The Krum City Council agreed Saturday, in a special session, to pay $310,000 in damages to Jack and Sue Knight and Joe and Jackie Beall. The damages follow the city's loss in a pair of lawsuits in Denton County probate court over the installation, more than three years ago, of new sewer lines across properties owned by each of the couples.

We will bring you more details in a full story early next week.